If you live in Atlanta or you’re visiting State Farm Arena for a game, you’ve probably noticed that the Atlanta Hawks’ colors haven’t always looked the same. The red, black, and volt green you see now are different from the red, white, and gold from years ago, and very different from the old blue-and-green era.
Here’s a clear, Atlanta-focused breakdown of why the Hawks changed colors, what each look has meant for the team and the city, and what it means for you as a fan today.
The Atlanta Hawks changed colors several times to:
Color changes have become one of the Hawks’ main tools for signaling, “This is a new chapter in Atlanta basketball.”
Below is a simplified look at the Hawks’ main color eras since coming to Atlanta in 1968.
| Era (Atlanta) | Main Colors | What It Represented |
|---|---|---|
| Late 1960s – 1970s | Red, white (some blue) | Classic, patriotic-era branding as the team settled in Atlanta |
| 1980s – Early 1990s | Red, white, gold/yellow | Bold, high-energy look during Dominique Wilkins’s prime |
| Mid-1990s – 2000s | Navy, green, red | Darker, “edgier” modern NBA style with the spread-wing hawk logo |
| Late 2000s – Mid-2010s | Navy, red, white | Clean, streamlined identity with the circular Hawk logo |
| Mid-2010s – Present | True Red, Volt Green, Black | Fast, vibrant, “New Atlanta” identity, heavy local influence |
Exact years and small tweaks varied, but these broad phases are what most Atlanta fans recognize.
Each big color update has lined up with how the team wanted to mirror Atlanta’s culture at the time:
If you go to a game in downtown Atlanta now, the colors in the arena feel much closer to the energy of the city than the older navy-heavy schemes ever did.
One big reason for changing colors was to reconnect with the franchise’s roots.
Even before coming to Atlanta, the Hawks’ identity was tied strongly to red. Many long-time fans in the metro area associate Hawks basketball with red and white, especially if they’ve followed the team since the Omni days.
By returning to red (and keeping it as the anchor color), the team:
So while the accents and secondary colors have changed, the modern brand still keeps red at the core to bridge old-school and new-school Atlanta.
When you see the current uniforms up close—whether at a game or in a shop at State Farm Arena or around downtown—you’ll notice that very bright, almost neon shade called volt green.
That color wasn’t a random choice. It helps the Hawks:
For an Atlanta fan, the color shift signals a team leaning into “New Atlanta”—creative, bold, and not afraid to look different from older, more traditional NBA brands.
Atlanta is packed with major teams and events: the Falcons, Braves, Atlanta United, college sports, concerts, and more. Color changes help the Hawks:
A new color scheme gives the organization a reason to upgrade signage, digital screens, and fan zones around State Farm Arena and the Centennial Olympic Park area.
New colors often mean:
If you live in Atlanta, you’ve probably seen these color waves hit local retailers, from shops near Five Points to kiosks around Downtown and Midtown.
Color changes have also lined up closely with major updates to the Hawks’ home arena and the overall game experience.
When the team revamped what is now State Farm Arena and invested in new fan-focused features, they also leaned into:
For someone attending their first game in Atlanta, the consistent colors across the court, video boards, and fan gear create a sense that this is truly Atlanta’s NBA team, not just a generic franchise.
Local reaction has typically fallen into a few groups:
The Hawks seem to use color changes to balance both sides—classic red for history, modern accents and fonts for the future—so a family going to a game from anywhere in the metro area can all find something they like.
If you’re catching a game at State Farm Arena:
Planning a visit? It can help to:
In Atlanta, you’ll see Hawks colors:
As the colors evolved, so did how the team appears in the visual landscape of Atlanta, making the Hawks more recognizable in neighborhoods well beyond downtown.
NBA teams sometimes tweak their look every few years, but full overhauls are less frequent. For the Hawks in Atlanta, any future color change will likely be driven by:
If you’re buying gear in Atlanta and you want it to feel timeless, red-based items with the core Hawk logo are the safest bet. These lean on the long-term identity that has carried through multiple eras.
Understanding these changes helps you see each uniform and logo not just as a design, but as a snapshot of where Atlanta and the Hawks were at that moment in time.
